Valve cage



Nov. 15, 1949 c. E. BRIDWELL VALVE CAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed Sept. 2,1944 TIT-L IN VEN TOR. CHAL ON 5 BR/DWELI.

n v HIS ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNI TED STAT ES PATENT O F F'ICE2,488,075?

VALVE, CAGE I Chalon E. BridwelL Detroit, Application September 2, 1941}"se'iiittfs'i6i352,532

M nve ntion relates to a new and useful impr t ive'ment in a pumpingmechanism, particularly adapt for "pumping -froin deep wells, such asoil" lls arid'the like." In such pumping mechs, there is coriimonly useda standing valve p and" a travelling valve which travelsviththepumpjbarrel or the pump plunger.

The alves are 'so'far'ran'ged that they will seat themselvesibyjgravityand'loy the force of the liquid coliiinn above one, suitable valve seat.The valvef'seat'is I'nounted'on a structure known as the valve cage and'the valvejrnember, whether it be s generally'positioned at the lowerend of a ball or adisc or a valve member such as is setou'tinjthisgapplication, 'enc lo'sedin the cage. In' the presentinvention I have provided a valve structurein which members looselypositioned in l a ys lar da te t e a h v lv seat and form the valve.

vide a valve cage and valve mechanism so arrangedthat the wobbling orshifting of the valve members is reduced toa minirnum, the valve cagethuscooperating with the valve member to assure accuracy in seating.

Another object of the invention is the pro' vision of a valve cage soarranged and constructed that'the'specific form of valve memberillustrated her'ein'may be used, as well as other standard" types ofvalvenieinbers, such as balls, discs and,

the-like?" Thus, the present valve cage may be utilized for a specialvalveysuch as is set out herein, or with standard valves now commonlyinus'e.

Otherbbjects willappear hereinafter.

It is recognized that various changes and modifications maybe Inadeinthe detail of'structure illustrated without departing from the inventionitself' andit is intended that such modifications and" chaing'esfshallhe encompassed within the clair'i rs which mime part hereof.

Forming'a part of this specification are drawing's which,

The tr t e e u thata plurality oi these members will engage the objectof V the pres ent invention to proe Figf l is a slightly enlarged,fragmentary, central, sectional view of the invention,-

lffig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2- 2 of Fig; 11"

2 Claims; (o1. z tie)" Fig.3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 ofFig." I;

F igl 'a central, vertical, sectional View of the invention showing itapplied and illustrating the travelling valve Fig. 5 isjacentralivertical,sectional:View show in'g"the Figf gis a central;vertical; sectional view or the lowerlend of the wellstructure'taken'below th 'pOSifilOIiIbf' Fig; 5.

Intheidrawings, I have tionusedin an. oil'well having a tubing 9 to thelower end of which is secured one endof an ancn 'i-i shoe is, the other"end of which is securedto the 'upperie ndof the gas separator tube 1 i,which is closed at'itslowei'lendhy the bull plug i2; The seatin'g'collar1M is adapted to seat againstthe inner face of thejanc'hor shoe I0 andsecured to and'projecting downwardly from this seating col lar i l i s aproduction tube '15, openings i3 being formed in the tube I l Theseating collar M is secured to the lower end of the cup and anchorholddown tube [6 which carries the sealing cups 6, Secured to the upperend of the hold down tube is is t lowerend of the pull tube :1, the

upper end of which is connected to the coupling end of the plunger l9isv connected to the lower inwardly projecting flange '2! against whichis pressed the peripheral flange 22 of the valve seat. =;-23 throughwhich is formed a bore or passage 24' lined with a suitable bushing.Projecting inwardly'from"the'valve cage 2fl'above the valve seat23arelongitudinally directed, circumferentially spaced ribs 25 which serve asguides for the valver'nmbers. Pressed inwardly in theupper endo'f thevalve cage Zli'a'nd projecting inwardly thereof is a'tube 26 having theopenings 21 formed therein. This tube serves as a guide for a valvemeniberiZBl which is formed cup-shaped and "adapted to engage at the endfaces of its open" end with the valve seat 23. This cup-shaped valvemember 28 is provided with the hollow neck 29 vi' lcich slidably engagesin the tube 25. Nesting in the valve'zfl is a cup-shaped valve ii?having I "'the"ho1low nee}; H3 which slidably engages in the hollow neck29. "Nesting in the cup-shaped valve l l'l is the cup-shaped valve 39which is adaptedto engage at the endfaces of its open endwith the"'valvejs eat'2 3 j Thisvalve 3D is prog vention applidftaken at a pointbelow; Fig. ,4 andshowing the standing or central valve} illustrated theinvena Thiscoupling 3' is connected at its upper end to the lower end ofthe plunger E9. The upper in the bore 32 in the hollow neck I [8. Itwill be noted that the tube 26 serves as a guide for the valve member28. The ribs 25 also serve'as guide members for this valve. The outervalve serves as a guide member for the next inwardly positioned valve,these valves being arranged concentrically. The tube 26 also serves as aguide for the outer valve 28 so that the valve is thus guided at twoseparate points.

Embracing this standing valve structure is the barrel pump 33 to thelower end of which is secured the fitting 34 which serves to engage thelower face of the coupling l8 when it is desired to pull the pump. Theupper end of the barrel 33 is secured to the connector 35 which connectsat its upper end to the lower end of the valve cage 35. Projectinginwardly from theinner surface of the valve cage 35 isthe circularflange 31 against which is clamped the peripheral flange" 38 on thevalve seat 39 which has a bore formed 9 therethrough lined by a suitablebushing 40. Projecting inwardly from the inner surface of the cage 86and circumferentially spaced apart are the longitudinally directed guideribs 4| which serve to engage and guide the cup-shaped valve 42. Thisvalve is cup-shaped and serves to engage at the end faces of its openend with the valve seat 39. Nested in the valve 42 is a cupshaped valve43 which also serves to engage the end face of the valve seat 39.cup-shaped valve 43 is the cup-shaped valve 44 which serves to engage atthe end faces of its open end with the valve seat 39. cup-shaped valvesis provided with a neck, the neck on the valve 44 projecting into thehollow neck on the valve 43 and the neck of the valve 43 projecting intothe hollow neck of the outer valve 42, all in slidable relation. Theneck on the outer valve 42 engages as a slip fit in the guide tube 45,which is fixedly mounted on the cage 36 and which is provided with theopenings 45a. The upper end of the valve cage is provided with thestudded portion 46 to which is connected the sucker rod 41.

The construction is such that when the barrel 33 is moving upwardly, thevalves 42, 43 and 44 will be moved into closing position, as shown inFig. 4. It will be noted that the outer valve 42 is still projected inthe guide tube 45 and that the guide ribs 4| are serving as guides forthe valve 42. The standing valve members Ill, 28 and 3% are in openposition, as shown in Fig. 5, and in this position, the guide tube 25 isfunctioning in the manner similar to the guide tube 45, and the guideribs 25 are functioning in a manner similar to the guide ribs 4|. Asshown in Fig. 3, these guide ribs are spaced apart to provide thenecessary space for passage of liquid through the tube.

In the enlarged form shown in Fig. 1, I have indicated the tub-e 9aembracing the valve cage 36a, this valve cage being connected to thetubular part E28, which is positioned therebelow and which serves toretain the valve seat |2| in position. The guide ribs I22 serve asguides for the cup-shaped valve 823 having the hollow neck I24 whichenters the guide tube I25. Nesting in the cup-shaped valve |23 is thecup-shaped valve I26 having the stem i2? engaging in the hollow neckl24. This structure is illustrated to indicate that a pair of valves maybe used instead of three, as shown in Fig. 4.

The construction is such that the valve members illustrated may be used.The construction is such also that these valve members Nested in theEach of these 7 removed and replaced with the standard, wellknown valvedrop, such as a ball or a disc. Consequently, in addition to the doubleguiding of the valves in their movement, I have provided a standardizedvalve cage which may be used on conventional valve drops. The particularstructure permitting the flow of the liquid around the cup-shaped valvesand upwardly through the openings indicated is such that a minimumamount of metal is used in the construction of the valve mountings andthe Valve cage. In other words, the over-all length is reduced to aminimum because of the particular type of construction, thus reducingthe weight and, of course, the cost of manufacture.

Between the ribs 4| and the valve 42 and between the neck of the valve42 and the guide tube 45, there is sufficient clearance so that arelative movement of the valve 42 radially to the ribs 45 may beeffected. Should sand or other material lodge under one side of thevalve 42 so as to retain it spaced from its seat, this would cause atilting of the valve 42 and there must e suflicient clearance betweenthe ribs 4| and the tube 45 and the adjacent portion of the valve 42.Likewise, there must be sufiicient clearance between the valve 43 andthe valve 42, and the valve 44 and the valve 43 so as to permit eitherto tilt relatively to the other should a small particle of foreignmaterial prevent one side of any of these valves from properly seating.The same would apply to the valve 28, the guide ribs 25 and the tube 26.The same would likewise apply to the valves Ill and 30.

Actually, in practice, where sand or foreign material is present in theoil or liquid, neither of the cup-shaped valves will effect a closeleakproof seal with the face of the seat. These particles of foreignmaterial lying on the face of the valve seat will not be squeezed out ofthe way or oif the valve seat when the valves come down to seat but theywill be crushed until they constitute but a very, very fine layer. Thislayer, however, will not be necessarily uniform throughout thecircumference of the valve seat face so that there will always be someleakage or back flow between the valve seat face and the meeting face ofthe valve. This is true also where the foreign material accumulatesexcessively at one point so as to raise the valve slightly "off its seatand cause the tilting referred to.

There is a function and operation of the valve which is important whenthis feature is considered. Below the upper face of the valve seat isthe low pressure side and above this face is the high pressure side.Because there is sufiicient clearance between the nested valves topermit liquid to flow therein, the back flowing liquid will be slowed upor retarded in its movement. For instance, in Fig. l, the valve I23,even when "raised slightly from its seat, will retard the back flow ofoil passing under it. This oil passing under it will further be slowedup because the oil may rise in the cup-shaped member I23 to fill thevacant space therein. Again, the valve I26, even though raised slightlyfrom its seat at some point will serve as an obstruction to prevent theback flow. The result is that even though the oil is of a very sandynature, the cutting action of the back flow will be avoided because thevelocity of the oil flowing backward is cut down to such an extent thatthe cutting of the sand cannot take effect.

I claim: g t 1. In a construction of the class described: a

valve cage adapted for mounting in vertical position; a valve seatmounted on the lower end of said cage and having a central openingformed therethrough for passage of liquid therethrough and provided onits upper end with a valve engaging face; a plurality of concentricallyarranged cup-shaped valves arranged in nesting relation andsimultaneously engaging at the end faces of their open ends with saidvalve engaging face and independently movable relatively to said valveseat, each of said valves being reduced in internal diameter inwardlyfrom the open end thereof to provide an internal and a peripheralshoulder, the depth of the reduced portion of the valve in which anothervalve is nested being greater than the length of the reduced portion ofthe nested valve to provide a space between the inner face of the baseof one valve and the outer face of the base of the nested valve uponengagement of the opposed shoulders on said valve, said valves nestingwith clearance between the same for permitting entry of liquidthereinto, the internal shoulder of the outer valve being spaced fromthe peripheral shoulder of the inner valve, upon alignment of the seatengaging faces of said valves.

2. In a construction of the class described: a valve cage adapted formounting in vertical position; a valve seat mounted on the lower end ofsaid cage and having a central opening formed therethrough for passageof liquid therethrough and provided on its upper end with a valveengaging face; a plurality of concentrically arranged cup-shaped valvesarranged in nesting relation and simultaneously engaging at the endfaces of their open ends with said valve engaging face and independentlymovable relatively to said valve seat, each of said valves being reducedin internal diameter inwardly from the open end thereof to provide aninternal and a peripheral shoulder, the depth of the reduced portion ofthe valve in which another valve is nested being greater than the lengthof the reduced portion of the nested valve to provide a space betweenthe inner face of the base of one valve and the outer face of the baseof the nested valve upon engagement of the opposed shoulders on saidvalve, said valves nesting with clearance between the same forpermitting entry of liquid thereinto.

CHALON E. BRIDWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 349,586 Glace Sept. 21, 1886741,217 Betts Oct. 13, 1903 1,199,569 Kelsey Sept. 26, 1916 1,200,268Taggert Oct. 3, 1916 1,710,054 Grant Apr. 23, 1929 1,710,635 Wertz Apr.23, 1929

